Why people focus on the camera and not the lenses?

[Natural Elements]

Hello,

I saw many threads talking about cameras but not too much about lenses.

In my opinion the camera will take care of the exposure right? but good lenses will make the difference. Good lenses cost money. How long do you keep your lenses? a very long time.

Now for example many people think the format 6 x 4.5, 6 x 6, 4 x 9 etc.. are better then 35mm. Yes and no, these big slide formats are made to enlarge the photos without loosing too much definition, compared to the 35mm it doesn't mean the 35mm is not good.

Try to check a photo 8 x 10 with 6 megapixels, then take the same picture with a 12 megapixels. Compare these two, you will be not able to see the difference. If you want to enlarge, then you will see the difference.


The point I want to make is depends of what you want to achieve.

[Forsh]

Yes, output matters. If you want to print a 20x40, you had better have good lenses and a good capture medium, be it film for sensor. The thing about better "lenses" is that they can really help you:

-resolve more detail
-reduce chromatic aberration
-reduce lens flare
-better (truer) color rendering

Not to mention the subtle characteristics that a lens has, like the Zeiss or Leica lenses, that give the images a unique feel. You choice in a lens is super important.

[viking888]

I totally agree with you. The lens is the heart of the camera. The brain might be the electronics now (the mechanical -manual in the older cameras) but the heart where all the fine details and special characteristic of a photo, is interpreted into an image. The lens converts those light images into finer details that hopefully the new CCD image capture devices records. Without the lenses, what good are those CCD's.

That is why Zeiss and Leica lenses had been around long enough to be still the preference of older professional photographers.

[Bestmiler]

I totally agree. Many people are superficial appearances so they always want what looks smallest, cutest, etc but is not always the best.

[SVB]

I focus on the camera. Why?
Because I have always used the same lens. I don't need to change. Get a good lens and you are sorted. Then you can worry about the camera.